Health Effects

This visualization tool helps researchers and public health officials see how relations between poultry density and waterfowl migration routes affect the threat of avian influenza to people and the poultry industry.

During the past two decades, great strides have been made toward the development and use of ecotoxicity testing methods that reduce animal use or replace animals altogether with in vitro tests or in silico models.

The unique combination of natural processes and human activities present in western North America can strongly affect the exposure of fish and birds to methylmercury, the most toxic form of mercury (Hg).

Tree swallow eggs at most study sites in the Great Lakes basin were minimally exposed to legacy organic contaminants and brominated flame retardants.

The first known hepatitis B virus to infect fish (white sucker; Catostomus commersonii ) has been discovered by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists.

A recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides some of the first environmental contaminants data for a species of passerine bird (perching birds) in Alaska but leaves unanswered questions as to the cause of beak abnormalities found in this species.Beginning in the late 1990s, biologists and members of the public reported an unusual number of beak abnormalities among black-capped...

Estrogens are recognized as modulators of immune responses in mammals, but how these effects might occur in fish was not understood. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists published findings that fish white blood cells (leukocytes) have specific estrogen receptors (ERs)—a discovery that moves scientists one step closer to understanding the connection between exposure to estrogenic substances and...

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are helping to track the movement of three strains of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) in wild birds. HPAI viruses are a concern as they are very pathogenic to poultry and some species of wild birds such as raptors. Infection can result in significant mortality of poultry and impact international trade of poultry products. In...

A prime suspect has been identified as a probable cause of the "Sea Star Wasting Disease," a mysterious epidemic that has been killing these animals in droves along the U.S. and Canadian Pacific Coast. Researchers from Cornell University, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and other institutions published their findings on this "sea star associated densovirus (SSaDV)" in the December 2014 issue of...

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists studying a midwestern stream conclude that pharmaceuticals and other contaminants in treated wastewater effluent discharged to the stream are transported into adjacent shallow groundwater. Other mobile chemicals found in wastewater are expected to have similar fates.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and collaborators discovered that long-wave ultraviolet (UV) light directed at the wings of bats with white-nose syndrome (WNS) produced points of distinctive orange-yellow fluorescence. The orange-yellow glow corresponds directly with microscopic skin lesions that define the current "gold standard" for diagnosing WNS . White-nose syndrome, a fungal disease...

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and National Park Service (NPS) scientists collaborated in the first study to measure mercury in fish from remote places in 21 National Parks spanning 10 Western States, including Alaska. Mercury levels in fish generally were low, but were elevated in some local areas, including two parks in Utah and Alaska where samples taken from sport fish exceeded the U.S...